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Curators Explain Why British Painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Won the Carnegie International’s Top Prize

A SERIES OF ARRESTING PORTRAITS is on view at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Single and double portraits are exhibited along with a painting of four black males standing together, seemingly in conversation. Lithe figures, all bare-chested wearing only dark pants, any number of narratives could be assigned to the image by British painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.

At the latest edition of the Carnegie International, a gallery illuminated with natural light is dedicated to Yiadom-Boakye. Her portraits are hung according to her specifications. The lighting and wall color are designed to complement the paintings which are displayed relatively low, at a height that directly engages the viewer. Void of time-bound details, her expressive portraits of compelling characters read both historic and contemporary.

The Carnegie International opened to much fanfare in October. Presented by the Carnegie Museum of Art every four to five years, this year’s 57th edition is curated by Ingrid Schaffner, with associate curator Liz Park. The exhibition features 32 artists and collectives, local, national, and international figures, such as Kerry James Marshall, El Anatsui, Art Labor with Joan Jonas, Huma Bhabha, Mel Bochner, Tacita Dean, Kevin Jerome Everson, Leslie Hewitt, Zoe Leonard, Thaddeus Mosley, Tavares Strachan, and Yiadom-Boakye.

The opening festivities included a variety of programming—artist projects, performances, talks, screenings, and a celebratory gala on Oct. 12, where the Fine Prize was awarded to Postcommodity and Yiadom-Boakye received the Carnegie Prize.

Yiadom-Boakye’s paintings earned her the International’s top award. The Carnegie Prize includes $10,000 and the Medal of Honor, which is designed by Tiffany & Co., and was first issued to Winslow Homer at the inaugural International in 1896.

The museum describes the International prizes as “prestigious” and the winning artists as “exceptional,” without further explanation about their candidacy. I wanted to better understand the criteria by which the artists were chosen and reached out to the museum to learn what about Yiadom-Boakye’s work stood out among the other artists included in the exhibition.

To begin with, the artists featured in the International were selected by a nearly all-female team of curators and researchers assembled by Schaffner. The group included Magalí Arriola, Ruba Katrib, Carin Kuoni, and Bisi Silva, as well as, Doryun Chong. They traveled the globe in pairs visiting with artists and viewing their work.

The goal was explore what “‘international’ means at a moment when questions of nations, nationalism, boundaries, and border crossings are becoming ever more urgent” and, in this context, identify artists who best represented the “currents and concerns” of contemporary art.

Asked why Yiadom-Boakye was selected to participate in the International, through a museum spokesperson, Schaffner said the elements that drew her to the artist’s work were pretty straightforward. She said, “Simple answer: the paintings, the brushwork, the personas, the intimacies, the owls, the staging, the drama.”

The goal was to explore what “‘international’ means at a moment when questions of nations, nationalism, boundaries, and border crossings are becoming ever more urgent” and, in this context, identify artists who best represented the “currents and concerns” of contemporary art.

LONDON-BORN YIADOM-BOAKYE is of Ghanaian heritage. Recognized for her portraits of timeless subjects, she made 13 new ones for the Carnegie International. Her dreamy and dramatic portraits feature fictional figures, people she’s imagined and realized on canvas. The characters might be mulling family matters or experiencing relationship challenges, immigration issues, grief, triumph, satisfaction or wanderlust. Perhaps they are weighing what to serve for tea. The specifics are left to interpretation.

A painter who also writes and has penned essays for the catalogs of fellow artists, Yiadom-Boakye gives her paintings poetic titles such as “A Whistle in a Wish,” “Solar Wisdom,” “The Black Watchful,” and “No Need of Speech.”

Her latest series depicts individual figures in contemplative poses. “Marvels for a Soothsayer” shows a male subject, rendered in profile, with his head cast slightly downward. He is wearing glasses with his dreaded or braided hair pulled back in a bun. The instance may be the first time such cultural details have been represented in her oeuvre.

Yiadom-Boakye’s subjects often look away from the viewer and appear aloof or perhaps deep in thought. Even when there are two figures on a canvas, they usually don’t appear emotionally connected with one another. In some of the new paintings, however, Yiadom-Boakye’s characters are relatively animated and deeply engaged with each other—a new development. She depicts them facing one another, gesturing, smoking, and expressing emotion with wide eyes.

In some of the new paintings, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s characters are relatively animated and deeply engaged with each other—a new development. She depicts them facing one another, gesturing, smoking, and expressing emotion with wide eyes.

In The Guide published to document the International, Schaffner noted that when Yiadom-Boakye visited the museum about six months before the opening, the artist said, “Leave plenty of time for lighting.”

The curator went on to describe how Yiadom-Boakye approaches installing a show. She wrote: “An artist
who works intensely up to the last minute, she also gave fair warning that until the new paintings were installed, her plan for the International would remain open: Would the walls be painted a color? So deep red were the walls of one recent show, the paintings practically disappeared into them. How high would the paintings hang? As low as they can go has been her rule of thumb. How many paintings would there be? That depends on the drama! The gallery is staged to establish intervals, relationships, pacing, mood.”

At the New Museum in New York last year, the walls for her solo exhibition “Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Under-Song for a Cipher” were a deep red. She went the opposite route for the International. The walls are a bright vanilla and the paintings are low.

Curator Ingrid Schaffner said the elements that drew her to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s work were pretty straightforward. She said, “Simple answer: the paintings, the brushwork, the personas, the intimacies, the owls, the staging, the drama.”

A seven-member jury selected the prize winners. The jurors included three of Schaffner’s travel/research partners (Kuoni, Katrib, and Arriola), two representatives from the museum’s advisory board, and two members of the Carnegie’s curatorial staff—Catherine Evans, co-director and head curator, and Eric Crosby, curator of modern and contemporary art.

“Criteria for awarding the prizes are intentionally broad,” Evans said. She continued in an email statement: “In selecting the winners this year, jurors started with their top five to ten artists, then after much discussion ranging from the impact of artworks to their resonance with the context of the exhibition to the relevance of their artistic practice in today’s world, reached a final consensus.”

Evans said the Carnegie Prize “is awarded to an artist for their outstanding contribution to the exhibition.” Given this standard, beyond the allure of her paintings of fascinating characters, the jury appreciated Yiadom-Boakye’s dedication to the opportunity to participate in the International.

“The jury felt strongly that Lynnette Yiadom-Boake’s paintings demonstrated a compelling new development in her work and is a highlight in a rich and exhibition,” Evans said. “In addition, the jury took into account that the artist had created these 13 paintings specifically for the Carnegie International, 57th Edition, 2018.” CT

UPDATE (03/21/19): Correction made to account for the fact that the team of five curators Ingrid Schaffner worked and traveled with during the research stage of the Carnegie International was not entirely female. The group included curator Doryun Chong. He is deputy director and chief curator of the forthcoming M+ museum in Hong Kong; (11/19/18): Revised to clarify comment from Schaffner and add a brief excerpt about Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s methods from The Guide published accompany to the International.

The 57th edition of the Carnegie International is on view at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh from Oct. 13, 2018- March 25, 2019.

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Do you enjoy and value Culture Type? Please consider supporting its ongoing production by making a donation. Culture Type is an editorially independent solo project that requires countless hours and expense to research, report, write, and produce. To help sustain it, make a one-time donation or sign up for a recurring monthly contribution. It only takes a minute. Many Thanks for your support.

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